In accordance with the Terms of Reference, we are pleased to present the Final Report of the Financial System Inquiry.

The Report provides a blueprint for the future of the Australian financial system. Australia's financial system, while possessing many strong characteristics, has room for improvement.

The Report makes recommendations to promote the efficiency, resilience and fairness of the financial system to facilitate the system's role in supporting a vibrant, growing economy that improves the standard of living of all Australians. The recommendations in this Report complement the observations contained in the Interim Report, released earlier this year.

There has been wide public interest in the Inquiry. We received over 6,800 submissions and held hundreds of stakeholder meetings. We met with over 50 financial institutions, market participants and regulators from the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Asia and New Zealand. In our international consultation, many participants noted that a strength of the Australian system was the holding of major periodic independent inquiries into the financial system such as this.

Many individuals and organisations have considerable time and resources to assist the Inquiry. In particular, we wish to thank the International Advisory Panel for providing a global perspective on financial system effectiveness. Finally, the Committee wishes to acknowledge the excellent support provided by all members of the Secretariat.